The No. 14 Ducks took the field on Friday for their first game as hosts of the 2021 Eugene Regional. PK Park was bustling, with a crowd of passionate fans contributing to an exhilarating atmosphere unlike anything felt at the stadium all season.
The Ducks beat the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils in a 13-10 slugfest, thanks to two homers each from Kenyon Yovan and Anthony Hall, as well as one from Aaron Zavala. The pesky Blue Devils offense didn’t back down and collected a slew of singles against Oregon, but the Ducks ultimately held on to win their first postseason game. The two teams combined for 29 hits as the game went approximately three and a half hours.
“Our approach this week has just been to barrel up baseballs,” Yovan said. “Stick to the same approach we’ve had all season. We just wanted to be the same guys that we’ve had the entire year.”
Right-hander Cullen Kafka got the ball for Oregon after posting a 2.66 ERA in the regular season, with 82 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings. He worked around back-to-back two-out singles to pitch a scoreless first.
Tanner Smith led off the Ducks’ half of the first by reaching second on a dropped pop-up. Yovan followed with a massive two-run homer in his first career postseason at-bat, putting the Ducks up 2-0 early. The homer gave Oregon 49 for the season, beating the single-season record of 48 set by the 1974 team.
Hall followed suit, leading off the bottom of the second with a towering shot to right that extended the Ducks’ lead to 3-0. Jack Scanlon doubled, and later came around to score on a wild pitch that made it 4-0.
The Blue Devils fought back, with three consecutive singles in the third putting them on the board. After a walk loaded the bases with no outs, a double play brought in a second run but helped Kafka navigate out of the inning with no further damage.
Yovan led off the bottom of the third with a homer to dead center to put the Ducks up 5-2, his second homer in as many at-bats.
Zavala singled, and later scored on a fielder’s choice as the Ducks scored two runs in each of the first three innings.
The Blue Devils recorded three more hits against Kafka in the fourth to cut the Ducks’ lead to 6-3, the third of which got by the glove of Gavin Grant as he showed some postseason defensive jitters. A fielder’s choice brought home a fourth run, knocking Kafka out after 3 2/3 innings. He gave up nine hits, all of which were singles.
“He’s a sinker ball guy,” head coach Mark Wasikowski said of Kafka. “When you don’t play elite defense, he’s probably not going to have his best day.”
The Ducks scratched out another run in the bottom of the fourth, an RBI groundout from Smith making it 7-4.
CCSU rallied for two runs off Nico Tellache in the fifth to make it a one-run game. The Blue Devils brought their hit total up to 11, all of which were singles.
The scoring onslaught continued, as Hall hit an opposite field three-run blast in the bottom of the fifth to extend the Ducks’ lead to 10-6. Hall joined Yovan with two homers on the day. A wild pitch added the fourth run in the frame to make it 11-6.
Freshman Isaac Ayon used his sharp curveball to pitch a scoreless sixth, the first scoreless frame for either team since the top of the second.
Zavala added another run with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Gabe Matthews walked, and Hall recorded his sixth RBI of the game with a single that made it 13-6. The Ducks scored in each of the first six innings.
“It wasn’t the way we play baseball,” CCSU head coach Charlie Hickey said. “They scored in the first six innings and just took control of the game that way.”
The Blue Devils didn’t concede though, rallying for two more runs off freshman Rio Britton in the seventh. Andrew Mosiello relieved him and allowed a double that cut the Ducks’ lead to 13-9. Oregon appeared to be out of the inning, but Josh Kasevich made a throwing error that allowed yet another run to score as CCSU put up a four-spot.
The Ducks didn’t score in the bottom of the seventh, their first scoreless inning all day.
Lefty reliever Kolby Somers came in for the ninth with the Ducks still up by three. He worked around a two-out to walk to shut the door on the 13-10 victory.
“They were really tough. We knew they’d be tough,” Wasikowski said of the Blue Devils. “We were not surprised whatsoever about what we were going to get out of that group. It was great to be able to match that toughness today. Good day to be a Duck.”
Up next, the Ducks will play at 7:06 p.m. on Saturday against the winner of Friday night’s Gonzaga vs. LSU matchup, with Robert Ahlstrom on the hill for Oregon.
“The reason I came back here is to take this team and make a run,” Yovan said. “It was something I’ve dreamed of since I committed to this school.”
